Desk telephone set



June 10,1941. H. F. OBERGFELL 2,244,918

DESK TELEPHONE SET Filed July 9, 1958 6 Sheets-Sheet 1 2) 2/ FIG. I

FIG. 2

/7 lm'j'illl 12 /8 1mm PEG 3 2 a? 4/ INVENTOR.

HERBERT F. OBERGFELL ATTORNEY.

June 10, 1941. H. F. OBERGFELL DESK TELEPHONE SET Filed July 9, 1938 6Sheets-Sheet 2 PIC-3.5

INVENTOR. HERBERT F. OBERGFELL ATTORNEY.

June 10, 1941. QBERGFELL 2,244,918

DESK TELEPHONE SET Filed July 9, 1938 6 Sheets-Sheet 3 FIG. 7 FIG. 8

Q i ii FIG. ll

FIG. l2

INVENTOR:

June 10, 1941. H. F. OBERGFELL DESK TELEPHONE SET 6 Sheets-Sheet 4 FiledJuly 9, 1938 FIG. l9

Hale F!G.l7 'FIGIS.

FIG; 20

June 10, 1941. QBERGFELL 2,244,918 DESK TELEPHONE SET Filed July 9, 19386 Sheets-Sheet 5 FIG. 23

, INVENTOR. HERBERT F. OBERGF'ELL ATTORNE June 10, 1941. H. F. OBERGFELLDESK TELEPHONE SET 6 Sheets-Sheet 6 Filed July 9, 1938 INVENTOR.

. ATTORNEY? HERBERT F. OBERGFELL W Patented June 10, 1941 nnsx rennrnom:sar

Herbert F. Obergfell, River Forest, 11]., assignor to AssociatedElectric laboratories, Inc., Chicago, 111., a corporation of DelawareApplication July 9, 1938, Serial N... 218,356

1 Claim.

The invention relates in general to telephone sets but more particularlyto an improved desk telephone of the cradle type.

An object of the invention is to improve the construction and shape ofthe cover of the desk telephone.

Another object of the invention is the provision of a channel in thecover to allow a proper finger grip of the handset before removing itfrom the cradle, thus minimizing breakage of the hand set.

A further object of the invention is the provision of means for enablingthe desk telephone to be easily moved from one place to another.

A feature of the invention relates to the combination of the channelinthe cover formed by the side walls and the curved rear surface and thefingers lifting plate mounted' between the side walls over the channel.

Another feature of the invention relates to a pivoted fingers liftingplate for use in moving the desk telephone from place to place.

A further feature relates to the construction of the cover which ismoulded in one piece and may be provided with different types of fingerslifting plates or no lifting plates, as desired, by providing' differentlifting plates and mounting blocks.

Other features will be apparent from the detail description of thedrawings comprising Figs. 1 to 27, inclusive.

Fig. 1 shows a front view of the desk set with the calling device ordial removed.

Fig. 2 shows a rear view of the preferred embodiment of the inventionwith the pivoted fingers lifting plate.

Fig. 3 shows a top view.

Fig. 4 shows a perspective view.

Fig. 5 shows a cross section taken on a line approximately through thecenter of the desk set.

Fig. 6 shows a partial cross section through one of the side walls.

Figs. 7 and 8 show a top and side view, respectively, of the pivotedfingers lifting plate.

Figs. 9 to 12, inclusive, show various views of the mounting block forattaching the pivotal fingers lifting plate to the cover.

Fig. 13 shows a modification of Fig. 4 in perspective.

Fig. 14 shows a perspective of a modification having a combinedstationary fingers lifting plate and mounting block.

Fig. 15 shows a cross-section taken approximately through the center ofFig. 14.

Figs. 16, 17, 18, 19, and show various views of the combined fingerslifting plate and mounting block.

Fig. 21 shows a perspective of another modification. Y

Fig. 22 shows a cross-section taken approximately through the center ofFig. 21.

Fig. 23 shows the combined fingers lifting plate and mounting block ofFigs. 21 and 22.

Fig. 24 shows a perspective of a further modification.

Fig. 25 shows a cross-section taken approximately through the center ofFig. 24.

Figs. 26 and 27 show respectively top and side views of the callingdevice or dial mounting bracket.

Referring now in general to the drawings the cover ID of the desktelephone is formed in one piece of some suitable plastic insulatingcompound and has a general shape roughly corresponding to a truncatedpyramid thereby enabling ease in moulding. The base portion of the covercomprises ten sides or skirts II which ex tend substantially verticalfor a short distance at which point the front, rear, and side surfacesslope inwardly. The two side surfaces i2 and I3 slope upwardly andinwardly from the skirt sideportion only a short distance at which pointboth the side surfaces extend substantially vertical. The front surfaceIt slopes upwardly and inwardly at an angle of substantially 40 degreesuntil it is rounded in a substantially horizontal top portion [5 whichextends a short distance to the rear where it merges into the rearsurface it. The rear surface Iii extending from the rear skirts i I towhere it merges with the top portion l5 slopes upwardly and inwardly.The slope of the rear surface It is a perfect arc of a circle havingsubstantially a nine inch radius. The two side surfaces form side wallsI1 and i8 which extend from the top portion l5 near the front to therear skirts ll, thereby forming a channel comprising the two insidesurfaces I9 and 20 of the side walls and the curved rear surface l6.Each side wall at its highest points terminates in a pair of spacedpillars 2|. The space between these pillars forming a cradle for thewell-known combination transmitter and receiver handset.

A plunger 22 is movably mounted in the space between the two pillars ineach side wall. These plungers are provided for operating the switchhooksprings (not shown) whenever the handset is removed or replaced on thecradle.

A base plate 23 having a rubber ring 24 is secured to the bottom of thecover by means of screws which screw into threaded inserts in the cover.

A hole 3] is provided in the front surface through which a callingdevice extends, such call ing device being mounted on a bracket 26 whichin turn is fastened to the top horizontal portion ll of the cover bymeans of screws and metal inserts in projections 33. The bracket 28 issecured to the base portion 21 by means of a shouldered female-malescrew insert 23. The calling device 23 is fastened to the bracket 23 bymeans of machine screws and does not touch the circumferpoint.

The channel formed by the curved rear surface It and the inside surfacesl3 and 20 of the two side walls l1 and It starts at the rear andgradually deepens. Its greatest depth being at a vertical point from thetwo rear pillars 2| in the side walls. Due to this depth of the channelthe finthe insecure finger tip grip considerable damage or breakage mayoccur.

Another advantage provided by this channel is to minimize cordinterference. For example, a subscriber, in hurriedly replacing thehandset on the cradle, may allow the cord extending from the desk standto the handset, to loop between the plungers of the cradle. In manyinstances these loops prevent the proper depression. of the plungerssince the handset rests on the cord and does not depress the plungerssuflicient to properly control the substation circuit. Under theseconditions the telephone is temporarily out of service in regard toincoming calls. In the present invention this defect has been overcomeby providing a channel which starts near the front pillars and which hassufiicient depth so that the cord will not interfere with the properoperation of the plungers in case the cord is accidentally looped inbetween the pillars.

Mounting blocks 32 are provided between each pair of pillars 2| in theside walls. These mounting blocks 32 form the top surface of the cradlewhich supports the handset and are provided with threaded screw holes 36into which the screws 42 are screwed. The screws 42 extend through holesin the switchhook spring mounting plate l3 and through holes in aportion of the side walls as shown in Fig. 6 and are then screwed .intothe mounting blocks 32 to hold thesame and the switchhook springmounting plate 43- firmly secured to the cover [0. A hole 31 is providedin each mounting block 32 for the plungers 22'.

Due to the general shape of the cover II) which is provided with smoothsloping sides the desk telephone is not easily moved by hand from placeto place because no suitable finger grip is available for lifting thecover. In order to provide means for easily lifting and moving the desktelephone from place to place a fingers lifting plate has been providedwhich enables the fingers to be inserted below this fingers liftingplate in the channel formed by the rear surface It and the side walls I!and I 8. Several modifications of fingers lifting plates are shown inthe different figures of the drawings. The preferred fingers liftingplate 33 is shown in Figs. 2, 3, I4, '1, and 8. The lifting plate 32 hasthe general shape shown in Figs. 7 and 8 and has two rounded lugs 33 bymeans of which the plate 33 is pivoted in the cutout rounded openings 33in the mounting blocks 32. The lower end of plate 33 is curved as shownat 4| which allows the fingers to raise and rotate the plate 33 from thefull-line position to the dotted-line position shown in Fig. 5. In thedotted-line position of Fig. 5 the plate 33 strikes against theoverhanging flanges or edges 34 of ence of the hole 3| in the frontsurface It at any mounting blocks32, thereby preventing further rotationof the plate 33. In'this raised position the fingers extend in thechannel under the plate 33 and the tips of the fingers engage thecut-out portion 40, thereby giving a firm finger grip for moving thedeskstand with the hand set on the cradle. The cut-out portion 40 hasbeen carefully chosen so that the tip of the fingers will not push thehandset off of the plungers when moving the telephone.

This pivoted fingers lifting plate 33 normally rests on the rear surface[6 or on the bottom of the channel as shown in full-line in Fig. 5 so asnot to interfere with the fingers when removing the handset from thecradle. The combination of the pivoted fingers lifting plate 33 and thechannel has a decided advantage over known desk sets in that it allowsthe fingers of the hand to grasp the underside of the handset, therebyproviding a. firm grip on the handset. This is especially true when alifting means isprovided for moving the entire telephone set, since thelifting means as a rule allows only the finger tips to grasp the sidesof the handset resulting in an insecure grip of the handset. Variousreports from the telephone companies show that breakage on the handsetsgreatly exceeds any other breakage of the desk telephones and it isthought that this new combination of the channel and pivoted fingerplate will greatly reduce the breakage of handsets because of theimproved finger grasping arrangement.

Figs. 14 to 20, iinclusive, show a combined stationary fingers liftingplate and mounting block 50 attached to the cover III in the same manneras shown in Fig. 6. In this modification the combined lifting plate 50has a flange 5| which fits in a cut-out portion of the cover In as shownin Fig. 15 in such a manner that the top portion of the lifting plate 50between the two side walls l1 and I8 is substantially horizontal withthe top portion l5 of cover Ill. The plate 50 at its rear has anenlarged curved portion 52 provided to improve the finger grip whenmoving the desk telephone. It will be noted that the depth of thechannel formed by the side walls and rear surface I6 is at its greatestdepth directly below the rounded portion 52 of the plate 50, therebygiving sufiicient room for insertioncf the fingers.

An improved stationary fingers lifting plate and mounting block 60 isshown in Figs. '21, 22 and 23. This lifting plate and block 60 issecured to the cover I I) in the same manner as shown in Fig. 6. At therear end of plate 60 an enlarged portion BI is provided to improve thefinger grip when the desk telephone is moved. The center portion of theplate 60 is cut away as shown at 62- for two purposes; one is to improvethe finger grip and the other is to allow an opening for easily cleaningthe channel beneath the plate. The cut-away portion 62 has beencarefully chosen so as to allow the finger tips to engage the edge 62without raising the handset away from the plungers 22 when moving thedesk telephone.

Figs. 24 and 25 show a modification comprising a movable fingers liftingrod II. The rod II is u-shaped and extends through holes in the rearsurface and through a portion ll of the moulded cover II. The portion llbeing provided for guiding the movement of the rod ll. Screws 12, asshown in Fig. 25, are screwed into the lower ends of the rod III tolimit the vertical movement of the rod when the same is raised for thepurpose of moving the desk telephone. It should be noted that thehorizontal portion of rod does not rest on the rear surface ii. Thecurvature of the rod 10 from its horizontal to its vertical shapeprevents the horizontal portion of rod 10 from engaging the rear surfaceIi thereby leaving suflicient space between the rear surface 18 and therod II to force the rod Ill vertically when the fingers are insertedbeneath rod Ill. The dotted-line in Fig. 25 shows the position the rod10 attains when it is raised by the fingers for moving the desktelephone while the full-line shows the normal position of rod II. Thistype of finger lifting rod, like the preferred embodiment shown in Fig.4, permits aosecure finger grip of the handset when the same is removedfrom the cradle because the rod 10 in normal position does not interferewith the finger tips grasping the underside of the handset.

The calling device or dial mounting bracket 26 comprises a flat metalplate of the shape shown in Figs. 26 and 27. The center of this bracketis cut away in order to provide space for the shunt and interrupter.springs of the calling device. Holes II are provided in bracket 28 formounting the calling device on the bracket by means of machine screwswhich screw into threaded holes in the casing of the calling device. Theholes II are provided for machine screws which fasten the bracket tometal inserts in the portions ll below the top surface I! of the cover.The hole I! is threaded and is secured to the base portion 21 of thecover by means of the shouldered female-male screw insert 20. Thecalling device is therefore mounted on the bracket 28 which in turn ismounted to top and base portions of the cover l0.

Having described the invention, what is considered to be novel ispointed out in the appended claim.

What is claimed is:

In a desk telephone, a cover formed in one piece comprising side wallseach having a pair of spaced pillars forming the hand telephonesupports, a rear inwardly and upwardly sloping surface between said sidewalls merging into a top surface, and a channel formed by said sidewalls and rear surface, a switchhook spring mounting plate inside saidcover, a combined fingers lifting plate and molmting block on theoutside of said cover for providing a finger grip to move the desktelephone and screws each extending through a hole in the switchhookspring mounting plate and a hole in the cover into a threaded hole insaid combined plate and block for securing said mounting plate and saidcombined plate and block to said cover.

HERBERT I". OBERGFEIL.

